William Anderson was the surgeon on Captain James Cook’s third voyage to the South Pacific. The entry, often mistakenly credited to Cook himself, was originally published in 1784 as part of Cook’s three-volume set A Voyage to the Pacific Ocean. Anderson’s topic is the disposition of the local people. The text below has been slightly…
1777: CANOE SURFING IN TAHITI, BY WILLIAM ANDERSON. “I COULD NOT HELP CONCLUDING THAT THIS MAN FELT THE MOST SUPREME PLEASURE”
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- 1866–1870: EXCERPT FROM “FRAGMENTS OF HAWAIIAN HISTORY,” BY JOHN PAPA ‘Ī‘Ī
- 1777: CANOE SURFING IN TAHITI, BY WILLIAM ANDERSON. “I COULD NOT HELP CONCLUDING THAT THIS MAN FELT THE MOST SUPREME PLEASURE”
- 1778: EXPLORER CHARLES CLERKE: WAIMEA, KAUAI: “MEN AND WOMEN ARE SO PERFECTLY MASTERS OF THEMSELVES IN THE WATER THAT IT APPEARS THEIR ELEMENT”
- 1778: EXPLORER WILLIAM ELLIS, WAIMEA, KAUAI: “THEY HAVE ANOTHER MODE OF CONVEYING THEMSELVES, WHICH WE CALL SHARKBOARDS”
- 1779: EXPLORER DAVID SAMWELL, KEALAKEKUA BAY, HAWAII: “THE MOTION IS SO RAPID THAT THEY SEEM TO FLY ON THE WATER”
- 1779: EXPLORER GEORGE GILBERT, KEALAKEKUA BAY, HAWAII. BLIMEY, HOW D’YE PADDLE THESE THINGS?
- 1779: EXPLORER JAMES KING, KEALAKEKUA BAY, HAWAII: “THEY SEEM TO FEEL A GREAT PLEASURE IN THE MOTION WHICH THIS EXERCISE GIVES”
- 1794: EXPLORER PETER PUGET, KEALAKEKUA BAY, HAWAII: “I WAS IN MOMENTARY EXPECTATION OF SEEING SOME DASHED TO PIECES”
- 1788: EXPLORER JAMES MORRISON, MATAVAI BAY, TAHITI: “AT THIS DIVERSION BOTH SEXES ARE EXCELLENT”
- 1769: CANOE SURFING IN TAHITI, BY JOSEPH BANKS. “THEY WERE DRIVEN TOWARD SHORE WITH INCREDIBLE RAPIDITY”
- 1779: EXPLORER JAMES KING, KEALAKEKUA BAY, HAWAII: “THE BOLDNESS AND ADDRESS IS SCARCELY TO BE CREDITED”
- 1788: CAPTAIN WILLIAM BLIGH, MATAVAI BAY, TAHITI: “THE DELIGHT THEY TAKE IN THIS AMUSEMENT IS BEYOND ANYTHING”
- DEPARTMENT OF LINGUISTICS: WE SHOULD HAVE STUCK WITH “SHARKBOARDS”!
- THE LEGEND OF KELEA: “JOYFUL AT THE THOUGHT OF SURFING”
- 1913: “MAMALA, THE SURF-RIDER,” BY WILLIAM WESTERVELT
- MISSIONARY IN PARADISE: EXCERPTS FROM HIRAM BINGHAM’S PUBLISHED WORKS
- 1823: MISSIONARY WILLIAM ELLIS, WAIMANU, HAWAII: “THE ONLY CIRCUMSTANCE THAT EVER MARS THEIR PLEASURE IS THE APPROACH OF A SHARK”
- 1817–22: POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES, BY WILLIAM ELLIS
- 1836: “PEOPLE, TO ENJOY LIFE, WANT AMUSEUMENT.” A MISSIONARY CRITIQUE BY WILLIAM RUSCHENBERGER
- 1841: NAVY MAN CHARLES WILKES: SURFING TOO CLOSE TO “LASCIVIOUS THOUGHTS AND ACTIONS”
- 1843, HENRY T. CHEEVER: “THE SPORT IS SO ATTRACTIVE AND FULL OF WILD EXCITEMENT”
- 1846: “THO’ THE MOTION IS SWIFT, IT IS VERY PLEASANT,” BOOK EXCERPT FROM CHESTER LYMAN
- 1849: “TRUELY A FAMOUS AND ANIMATING DIVERSION,” EXCERPT FROM “TRAVELS IN THE SANDWICH AND SOCIETY ISLANDS,” BY SAMUEL S. HILL
- 1861: “THEY CAN SPRING UPRIGHT ON THE SURFBOARD AND COME IN ERECT!” AN EXCERPT FROM “THE VICTORIAN VISITORS,” BY SOPHIA CRACROFT
- 1865: “SUCH RIDING OF MAN AND WOMAN ON THE SAME WAVE RESULTS IN SEXUAL INDULGENCE,” J. WAIAMAU
- 1890: “I WAS INITIATED IN THE MYSTERIES OF SURF-RIDING,” HENRY CARRINGTON BOLTON, FAMOUS CHEMIST, REPORTS FROM NIIHAU
- “WORK WAS OFTEN NEGLECTED FOR THE PROSECUTION OF THIS SPORT”: AN EXCERPT FROM THRUM’S ANNUAL, 1896
- “PROJECT AVALANCHE,” BY DREW KAMPION (1980)